Jerry Anthony Daniel

Jerry Anthony Daniel, 79, of Wake Forest, North Carolina, formerly of Dallas, Texas, and Anniston, Alabama, passed away Friday evening, October 25, 2019 at an elder care facility in Youngsville, NC.  He was born on July 20, 1940 in Calhoun County, Alabama to the late Emmett O’Neil Daniel and Myrtice Boalt Daniel.

Daniel was for many years a cartographer for Hunt Oil Company in Dallas, where he worked in the international exploration department from 1982 until his retirement in 2003. From 1973 to 1981, he was the vice president of Daniel Electric in Anniston, and was responsible for the wiring of many Northeast Alabama hospitals, banks, and commercial properties. Before that, he worked for eleven years as a draftsman and cartographer at the U.S. Geological Survey in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Daniel grew up in Anniston (one boyhood job was delivering the Anniston Star). He attended Noble Street School, and graduated from Anniston High School.  While a teen, he was active in the Civil Air Patrol and met his future wife at a mixer at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery. He displayed artistic ability early on, and learned draftsmanship while in high school. After high school, Daniel attended the University of Alabama, where he received a B.S. in geology.

Daniel was the scoutmaster of Troop 9 at Golden Springs Baptist Church in Anniston for ten years in the 1970s and early 1980s, and continued to be involved with scouting in Dallas, where he worked with an inner-city troop for many years. In scouting, Daniel completed  Wood Badge training and was a Vigil member of the Order of the Arrow. He also was a five-time adult leader for Scout crews at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Beyond Scouting, Daniel was an avid hiker and traveler who climbed multiple mountain peaks with his sons in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and summitted Mt. Rainier in Washington State when he was 53 years old.  He traveled to South America and Europe, and often toured the American West, where he took inspiration from the landscape and skies. During later years, Daniel turned his attention to pottery and sculpting, and his modernist style metal sculptures were shown in several Dallas galleries and on area college campuses.

Daniel died from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease. Private services were held by the family in North Carolina.

Mr. Daniel is survived by his wife of 59 years, Martha Ann Montgomery Daniel; children, Jerry Anthony “Tony” Daniel, Jr. and spouse Rika of Wake Forest, NC, and David Martin Daniel and spouse Diane of Bulgaria; grandchildren, Cokie Daniel and Hans Daniel; siblings, Patricia Sims and spouse Ricky of Anniston, AL, Sandy Cooke and spouse Jeff of Pell City, AL; Rick Daniel & spouse Diane of Fernandina Beach, FL; and niece Dr. Cynthia Dulaney of Cincinnati, OH, as well as other nieces, nephews and extended family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Boy Scouts of America, https://donations.scouting.org/#/national/.

A service of Clancy Strickland Wheeler Funeral Home, 1051 Durham Road, Wake Forest, NC. (919)556-7400